1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic gain control circuitry and, specifically, to gain control circuitry for use with a video camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most video cameras intended for general use employ an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit for controlling the gain of the detected luminance signal output. Such AGC circuits operate to maintain the level of the luminance signal at a specific level regardless of the brightness of the object being viewed by the video camera. One benefit of using an AGC circuit to maintain the luminance signal at this specific AGC level is to improve the quality of the picture by maintaining a desirable signal-to-noise ratio. Nevertheless, situations do arise in which a picture of a dark object, for example, is desired to be recorded, even though it is acknowledged that the resultant pictures of such dark object will be less than optimum. Moreover, video cameras have now advanced beyond the utilitarian stage to the point where artistic uses are being made with video tape reproductions and, thus, the capability should be provided to the user to capture images which are either brighter or darker than what would be considered standard exposures.